Someone ushered me forward, breaking me from Royce’s hold. I looked back at him from over my shoulder as we were herded forward, a frenzy of lowered voices shouting their last instructions.
Onyx eyes met mine. A wild disorder. The perfect sin.
My life.
I ripped my gaze from him and rushed out onto the darkened stage. I fumbled to get hold of myself as a stagehand helped to situate my guitar over my head. He pointed at the black X where I was supposed to stand, a sea of faceless shadows sitting out in the audience beyond.
Anxiety blazed through my blood. Seeped all the way to my bones. I was unable to breathe. Unable to see. I could feel the pressure radiating from all around, the members of my band held on this moment.
Terrified by the thrill.
Enraptured by the charge of energy that zinged through the atmosphere.
My family’s future was in my hands, which were shaking so out of control I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make my fingers cooperate to play.
A countdown blinked on a hidden screen that only we could see, and my heart thundered in my chest, so hard I was sure the microphone had to be picking it up.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
A spotlight came on to light the smaller, elevated stage to the right. Angelica Leon stood on it, wearing a blue satin dress with a billowing train, delivering her choreographed welcome.
Introducing us to the world.
A superstar in her own right.
A country singer who’d gone pop and then had landed herself in five blockbuster movies.
“. . . playing their first live televised performance right here at the ACBs, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Carolina George.” Her voice lifted on the last as she swept her arm in our direction.
A furor rippled through the theater, an energy unlike anything I had experienced anywhere else.
Brilliant and bold.
A shock to the senses.
I trembled, staring out into the silhouetted faces that took up the endless rows, the balconies filled, stretching all the way out to the televisions people were glued to across the nation.
The lights came up.
Blinding.
Disorienting.
Strobes of lights flashed, the stage consumed in a blue haze of smoke that lifted in vapors around us, as if we’d just appeared from out of nowhere.
Summoned by the magic of the music we made.
Leif lifted his drumsticks in the air, beat them together as he gave us our count.
Richard drove into the intricate introduction of the song we were set to play, his fingers fast and precise as they moved up and down the neck of the electric guitar.
Our most popular.
My favorite.
One that had always been closest to my heart.
Still, I felt frozen, my tongue thick, my heart beating somewhere out of time, out in a place where I didn’t know how to catch up to it.
Where it was lost in the thorns and the briar.
And I knew this was it.
I was going to ruin it all.
I was going to let him steal it.
I couldn’t bear the thought, and my attention slowly drifted to the wings.
Drawn.
Royce was there, hidden in the massive maroon drapes that hung from the rafters.
But I found him.
My spirit immediately knowing where to go.
My beautiful stranger.
Dark and deadly and dangerous.
An enigma that completed me.
The second before my part, I gripped my acoustic guitar, strummed a chord, and breathed her to life.
I moved up to the mic.
And I sang—I sang with all of me.
Twenty-Four
Royce
A roar of applause filled the theater, the pounding thunder ascending to the soaring ceilings and flooding across the floors, spilling into the wings.
Emily stood at the microphone as she belted out the last line. The power of her sultry, mesmerizing voice echoed against the walls, filling hearts, the awe of it ricocheting through the audience to make a rebound. She stood in the glow of it, her head tilted back and her chest jutting forward, the girl giving it everything she had.
And God, had she given it everything.
My chest tightened, my spirit racing with the same admiration that blew every person in the place away.
Awestruck.
Carolina George had just become a household name.
A grand slam. Every fucking base loaded, and Emily had just busted that shit into the stratosphere.
She stepped away from the mic.
Blinking.
Stunned.
Like maybe she hadn’t had the first clue what she was capable of until right then.
A stampede of shouts and cheers exploded in the air, and she gave a little wave before the lights went dim and shifted to the other stage so the next award could be presented. Immediately, the stage crew hustled to get the next act ready as Carolina George was quickly led off the stage.
Staggered, her spirit racing out ahead of her, Emily came right for me, wearing that dress and those heels and watching me with those green eyes.
Mind-wrecker.
I no longer knew myself.
The second she made it to the edge of the curtains, she threw herself at me.
“I did it. Oh my god, I did it.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her off her feet and holding her close. My voice was a low rumble at her ear. “You did it. Of course you did it. You are unstoppable.”
Joy blew from her like a warm spring breeze. The kind that made you feel like you’d found yourself in paradise. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. I thought . . . I thought I wasn’t gonna make it. I almost froze . . . but I . . . I couldn’t let him hold me back for a second more. Wouldn’t let him steal that moment from me or the band.”
“You were spectacular,” I murmured, voice clogged and overcome.
By the performance.
By her voice.
By this woman I didn’t deserve to be holding in my arms, but who I wasn’t going to let go.
“No one was prepared for you, Emily Ramsey. You are the most breathtaking thing to ever hit that stage. It’s where you belong. You are a star.”
She curled her arms tighter, her confession a gush against my soul. “I don’t want to do it with anyone else, Royce. I want this, and I want it with you.”
Bodies bustled around us, and the only thing that mattered right then was this girl.
I needed her.
Needed her in a way that I had never needed anyone in my life.
Overwhelming.
Stunning.
Devastating.
“Come with me.” Setting her onto her feet, I grabbed her hand, frantic as I started to pull her through the crush of people backstage.
“Where are we going?” she rushed to ask behind me, her voice barely breaching the rumble of voices around us, though I could taste her thrill.
The anticipation that streaked through that gorgeous body.
“Where I can have you in private.”
We made it down one hall, then another. We wound down the packed hall to her dressing room. I didn’t slow to glance around at who was watching.
Didn’t give a fuck.
I needed her.
Right that second.
I opened the door, ushering her inside. I shut it behind us, closing us in.
Energy crackled.
A fire that lit.
I clicked the lock.
It resonated like a gunshot. Added fuel to the crash of need beating the blood through my veins.
Emily stood in the middle of the room facing me, the lights framing the mirror on the wall behind her still glowing bright, the rest of the room dim. That gold dress glinted and shimmered in the glow, her skin just as bright, eyes a vortex that sucked me under.
A supernova.
My insides clutch
ed and pulsed, my dick hard and hungry. I moved right for her, hands gripping her by the face as I took her mouth.
Possessive and rough.
Tongues a tangle of need and fire. Lips greedy and desperate. As greedy and desperate as her little hands that started gripping at me. Ripping at my jacket like if she didn’t have me, she’d go mad right along with me.
Tripping.
Tumbling.
No return.
I was already gone.
Lust boomed in the enclosed space.
Bounding against the walls. Growing in severity with each frenzied beat. She tore the jacket from my shoulders, her breaths hard as she went right back for me.
Our chests pressed tight.
Hearts crashing in time.
A frenzy that lit.
I grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, molding my body to her from behind, against that gorgeous back and her perfect ass.
I kissed along her bare shoulder, wanting to devour every inch.
“Royce.” Her voice was a plea as her hands darted out to hold herself up on the back of the sofa couch that faced the small sitting area. I gripped her by the waist.
“That’s right . . . you said you were going to be begging for it, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” It was a whimper.
I ran my hands up the front of her dress, pressing hard as I trailed up over her quivering belly, hands cupping those perfect tits. “Tell me you want me.”
She moaned. “I want you, Royce. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
“What do you want?” It was a heated demand, hands getting impatient, gliding back down her sides until they were riding over the curve of her hips, splaying over her shaking thighs, until I was gathering up the material of her dress at the hem and slipping it up.
The flesh of her sweet, sweet ass was exposed, just a thin slip of material covering her drenched core. I traced my fingertips over the silk, subduing a groan.
Emily didn’t. She mewled and pressed back. “This. For you to touch me. To take me. To stay with me.”
My spirit thrashed.
Her words winding through the vengeance and hate.
I shoved the material aside, dragging a single finger through her tight slit.
“Oh, God, Royce. Please.”
“Tell me,” I demanded. I needed to hear it. All of it. “What do you want?”
Still, I gave her a little, dipping a single finger into her needy pussy.
I swore, she heard the fullness of my question because a tiny cry jutted out of her mouth. “I want it all, Royce. I want to sing. I want to play. I want a family. I want to be a wife. I want it all. I want it with you. Wherever you go, I want to go with you.”
She squirmed, the girl’s throaty voice filling the air, wrapping me in knots when she gave me her heart.
This time, I was groaning, and I edged back to peel her underwear down those long legs, kneeling as I went. The sight of her bent over like that was enough to knock the wind out of me.
Foundation rocked.
This girl a buoy when I’d been content to float away and drown. Sure I’d never feel again. Die in this destruction. I kissed a path back up her legs, teeth grazing her bottom, sliding my hands up the sides before I was jerking my belt loose, ripping the button and dragging down the zipper, freeing my cock that was harder than stone.
Grabbing myself, I dragged the tip through the crease of her ass, spreading her with one hand, lining myself up with her throbbing pussy.
I drove home.
A grunt tore out of my chest.
Heaven.
Motherfucking heaven when I thought I’d been condemned to hell.
Emily gasped and bowed forward, curling her fists into the couch as I filled her full. Girl so tight around me, squeezing my dick in the delicious clutch of her body.
My ultimate perfection.
“Good?” I asked her as I took two handfuls of her lush ass, kneading her flesh, trying to keep myself in check while I waited for her to adjust.
She turned her head and took in our reflection in the bright lights of the mirror. The two of us close to shadows.
Silhouettes.
“There is no better feeling than you taking me.”
I pulled almost all the way out, watching the act, dick soaked with the girl. Lust and greed and this love she’d found in me pulsed. Tightening my chest and knotting my stomach in this need I knew would never end.
I’d never get enough.
I surged forward in a possessive thrust. “Mine. You’re mine, Emily. You and me, Precious. It’s you and me.”
“I’m yours,” she murmured. The girl’s chest was pressed to the top of the couch as she struggled to breathe around the intrusion of me, as her pussy throbbed and clenched and begged for more, that dress hiked up around her hips, our bodies one.
One.
There would never be a better moment than this.
When I knew she was my all.
Life.
Death.
She was the fight.
She was the victory.
Fingers sinking into her flesh, I clutched her tight. I picked up a quick, hard pace. Fucking her with all the desperation I felt. Loving her with everything I had.
I spread her ass, taking her deeper, ran my thumbs along the seam where we were joined. I gripped her by the back of the knee and opened her wider, slipped a hand around to her clit as she leaned her back on my chest.
I took her ruthlessly, our pants filling the air, our hearts running wild.
Emotion surged into the room.
And she was whimpering, her cries tiny whispers, “I love you, Royce. I love you so much. You kept me from falling apart. Caught up to me at exactly the right time.”
I pressed a hand to her chest, my mouth at her ear. “You are everything.”
She spread her hand over mine as I stroked her, and I turned her a fraction so I could look at her all spread out in the mirror.
The picture of everything I’d wanted and never thought I’d have.
Her pants increased, her little body winding tight, and she was clamping down on me. I thrust deeper, harder as she rode out her orgasm that I could feel racing across my flesh. Her pleasure mine.
Pricks of it scraping my flesh, arrows that impaled, the barbs of her spirit sinking into mine.
Forever.
My balls tightened, shivers of ecstasy gathering at the base of my spine.
Fierce.
Powerful.
It burst.
Bliss sped through my veins, so intense the only thing I saw was this girl’s light.
I grunted as I came, clutching her sides as I poured into her body, her walls clutching, sucking me deeper.
Sweat slicked our skin, our breaths shallow and fast, as fast as our thundering hearts. I hugged her close, pressed my face into the thrumming pulse of her neck. “I love you, Emily.”
She turned her head, nuzzling her cheek into my face. “I love you, Royce.”
Heaving out a sigh, I pulled out of her, tugged up my pants, and moved over to the sink. Wetting a cloth, I cleaned myself before I grabbed a fresh towel, ran it under the water, and moved back over to her. I pressed it between her thighs, cleaning her, hoping she’d know I’d always take care of her.
She braced herself on my shoulders, casting a nervous glance up at me. “Are you ready for this?” she whispered, her voice sounding of cautious excitement.
Not even fucking close.
A roll of anxiety slipped beneath the surface of my skin. A shudder of unease. “Are you?” I asked her.
“Yes,” she said with a tiny smile, trust filling her green eyes. “I’m ready to do this. With you. Because of you. Because you reminded me of who I want to be. And tomorrow . . . I’m going to the police.”
Everything clutched. My heart and my spirit and my mind.
My love for her up against my love for Anna. How could I separate the two?
The words pool
ed on my tongue, the confession that going to the police tomorrow was already going to be too late.
Instead of releasing them, I touched her chin. The most adoring caress. “You are the warrior, Emily Ramsey.”
Held, she gazed at me through the leaping shadows before she shook herself out of it. “I should change. I think you might have ruined my dress.”
That time, her tone went coy, low with playful seduction.
She grabbed a simple white floral dress that hung from her wardrobe rack.
“Let me help you with that,” I murmured. I took her by the shoulders and turned her around, slowly unzipped the golden dress, and let it drop to her feet.
She breathed out a sigh.
Turning her back around to face me, I slipped the dress over her head, situated it on her sweet body. Reaching out, I brushed my thumb across her cheek, gazing at this girl who I would do anything for. “Before we step out that door, I need you to know one thing, Emily. Know that everything I do, I do it for the people I love. Whatever you do, don’t forget it. And second? Don’t leave my side.”
Twenty-Five
Emily
The limo eased down the long driveway that led to Reuben Carmichael’s home. If that’s what you wanted to call it. The massive estate was spread out at the back of a sprawling lawn that seemed to go on forever, tucked behind a ten-foot gated wrought-iron fence. Abundant, flourishing trees surrounded the perimeter of the opulent residence.
Nerves rattled me to the bones.
Reuben Carmichael was one of the most successful country singers of all time.
A legend.
And we’d been invited to his house for the afterparty.
Richard let out a low whistle as the car eased around the colossal fountain with a statue of an angel in full flight. It appeared to be hovering over the gush of water spurting from the cascading pool, streaming arches lit up in hues of pinks and blues and greens.
“So this is how the other half lives,” Richard mused as he peered out, my brother as anxious as could be, his knee bouncing at warp speed as we came to a stop.
This was it.
We all knew that it was.
After tonight’s performance, we had reached a pinnacle. The peak we’d been climbing toward for years. It was time to sign away our souls in the hopes that we were appointing them to something better.
Catch Me When I Fall Page 27
